


How much you wanna risk?

by Wrenalynn



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And a little bit of angst, Cop!Geralt, I googled so much random shit for this one, M/M, No beta we die like mne, dumb bois, fade to black...ish, more references to poor decisions, nurse!jaskier, one-night stands, oops I whumped this, some minor references to wounds, there's a little karaoke, this fic brought to you by vodka and discord, ultimate happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23414395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrenalynn/pseuds/Wrenalynn
Summary: Geralt has had a gods-damned bad day and all he is asking for is a little peace in which to get absolutely pissed. He did not ask for his local bar to suddenly decide Karaoke was a good idea, and he certainly did not ask for the mouthy man with pretty blue eyes to start bothering him.The universe knows what he needs though.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 50
Kudos: 258





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea I tossed around a bit in discord and decided it needed to be out there in the world.  
> If you want a story to exist, write it yourself!
> 
> I apologize for nothing.
> 
> The Song that both influenced me to write this hazy modern au and made the title is "Something Just Like This" by The Chainsmokers. 
> 
> <3

There was something about a dark bar, the low lighting and slight smell of cleaners and hops, that relaxed the soul after a long day. This was where Geralt had found himself at the end of his shift, sitting quietly at the bar and nursing a cold beer. It was a neighborhood dive, with tables made of old railroad ties and stools that didn’t always balance correctly. But it was within stumbling distance of his apartment and had good drink specials, so who was he to complain?

The day had been particularly rough to him and he was looking to forget a particularly terrified woman’s face at the bottom of a beer glass. Someone, and it was entirely likely it was the woman’s ridiculed ex-boyfriend, had decided that the best use of the police’s precious time was to break down the door of an innocent woman’s house for a false threat. Swatting was very rare, but it did happen. The bastard who used the cops to terrorize his ex would get what was coming to him, but in the meantime, it left Geralt with a sour taste in his mouth for having been the source of the horrified woman’s worst nightmares. 

He shook his shoulders, trying to dislodge the thoughts as he focused on the drink in his hand. Damnit, he was so close to making Detective and getting away from the beat. Was it so wrong to ask for a little peace for the next couple of months? He threw back the rest of his drink and motioned at the bartender for another. Tonight was a night to get stupid and damn the consequences.

So into his personal alcohol-lubricated slide into depression, that he did not realize that towards the back of the bar cables were being adjusted on a small raised platform. It was a Thursday and a new KJ had taken up the time slot freed up by the lack of local talent. Tonight was the first night of what was to be an ongoing karaoke night, and Geralt’s desperately needed peace was about to be shattered into horrifically off-key pieces. 

The off-duty cop was into his third glass when the sound system kicked on and the “entertainment” was announced. A sign-up sheet was gestured to in a very Vanna White-esque way and a slim man with tawny, curly hair sidled up to it, along with a handful of other bar regulars who had been drinking for the last two hours and had lost all common sense. 

Geralt hunched his shoulders up, attempting to hide his head and ears from the inevitable onslaught of poorly sung pop and country music. He had already demolished his second beer and gestured at the bartender for a third drink. Said bartender raised a brow at him as he moved towards the taps. 

“New weekly karaoke. I take it you didn’t know.”

He grimaced in response. “Maybe if I drink enough I won’t be able to hear it.”

The bartender just chuckled to himself and slid the requested drink over. “Good luck with that, man.”

Halfway through said drink, the KJ leaned into his Mic to announce the first victim.

“Let’s start our night off right! Up first, Jaskier! With ‘Something Just Like This’! Jaskier, get on up!”

The tawny-haired young man popped out of a corner seat and stepped up to take the Mic from the KJ with a little flourishing bow. Geralt flicked a glance over in time to see a wide smile and bright eyes on a young, but tall, frame. He wore dark skinny jeans and a dark blue blazer over a v-neck shirt of scarlet. He chose to nestle the mic back into the stand and held onto it like a natural performer. 

Geralt frowned and shifted his gaze back to his beer as the song started up and the young man began to croon into the mic. At least with the first few lines, it appeared as if the youth had talent and wasn’t going to destroy his eardrums.

_But she said Where’d you wanna go?_

_How much you wanna risk?_

The voice had actual vocal talent behind it. Impressive for a karaoke night in a tiny dive bar in the middle of nowhere. It convinced Geralt to let his gaze drift back again. Just out of curiosity. That’s all.

_Just something I can turn to_

_Somebody I can kiss_

The singer’s eyes had closed. He clearly didn’t need the lyrical prompts in front of him. What on earth was this boy doing in here, trying to make a fool of all the other drunk idiots with two cents of talent to rub together?

He took a deep pull of his beer as his shoulders relaxed and he shifted on his barstool to have a better look at the performance. As the chorus kicked in, the man opened his eyes again, scanning the crowd with a flirtatious grin as he sang.

_The testaments they told_

_The moon and its eclipse_

The singer’s gaze swung to where Geralt was sitting and stopped. His breath caught at the intense look leveled his way and gripped his beer a bit tighter. It was impossible to tell the color of his eyes from across a darkened bar, but just the look was enough to raise Geralt’s blood pressure a few ticks. The cheeky bastard even winked at him before finally shifting away!

Geralt pivoted back on his stool and drained the last of his beer. He waved the bartender over, asking for one last beer and the tab. He wasn’t about to give up the pleasant buzz he had going, but he certainly didn’t want to stay much longer. The next acts up were bound to disappoint after this.

_Oh, I want something just like this_

The song ended and the voice petered out, and Geralt could breathe again. The bartender replaced his empty glass with a full one and slid the check over to him. Ten more minutes.

He frowned at the total and attempted math in his head, eventually giving up to just make the tip an even dollar per drink he ordered. He scribbled some numbers, adding in some extra cents to round out the amount and signed for it all, shoving the little plastic tray back towards the inside of the bar. 

The next act up had taken a page out of ‘Overdone Karaoke Songs’ and was currently setting up to belt out a likely poor rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama''. The groan that Geralt let out was quickly drowned with another long pull off his beer, his shoulders going right back up to his ears as he attempted to ignore the dissonant noises. 

He was halfway through his beer and not too far away from escaping when someone slid onto the stool next to him. 

Geralt had the look of a rather angry cop about him. He may not have been in uniform, but he still radiated “Don’t mess with me” vibes and not many people were willing to just plunk right down next to what was quite obviously a very intimidating cop. 

But the man who sat next to him obviously did not feel that same revulsion or fear. He glanced over and glowered right into a pair of bright blue eyes. The singer from a few minutes ago. He had his elbow resting on the bar and his chin in his curled hand, staring at him.

“I love how you just sit there and brood.”

Geralt just huffed into his mug, refusing to grace that with a response.

“You know, everyone here seemed captivated by my performance. I even saw you watching me. And yet, you were the only one here not joining in the enthusiastic applause.”

Apparently the man had no idea when to shut up.

“I’m here to drink alone.”

“Yeah, good. Mind if I join you? Big ole loner, with silver hair and the most gorgeous golden eyes I’ve ever seen.”

Geralt frowned at the man. “What part of ‘Alone’ did you not catch onto?”

“The part where you haven’t just gotten up and stormed away yet.” The singer crooned at him, setting his chin on his palm as he looked the cop over with a predatory glint in his eye. “I can tell, you know. Big ole bad cop drinking by himself. You don’t scare me.”

Geralt had a hard time missing that particular look. He had seen it enough times on his ex. Was there some kind of sign on his back that drew the most feral types straight at him? The beer buzzed pleasantly through his system, cutting off any retorts he might have made. Instead, he shrugged and took another drink. “Don’t wanna move.” He shifted a little awkwardly on the stool after a moment. It wobbled. “I should scare you. Why on Earth would you _want_ to mess with a cop?”

The young singer took this as permission, apparently. He scooted his stool a few inches closer and his smile took on a more promising smirk, ignoring the last question pointedly.

“And what might your name be, _officer_.”

Something about the way the man purred the last word shot straight to Geralt’s extremities. He downed the last half of his beer before raising his gaze to meet the singer’s.

“Geralt.”

“Jaskier”

“I know.”

An eyebrow went up at that.

“I heard you sing. They said your name.”

A smirk followed. “Is that so? So you _were_ watching me.”

Geralt grumbled an affirmation directly into his glass, attempting to ignore the glances of the man to his right and willing there to be at least a little left to drink. The singer kept chattering nonsense he hadn’t really been paying attention to. The cadence of his speech was pleasant enough, but he didn't want to get involved. 

A slender hand reached out to brush against his own, still gripping his empty beer mug for dear life. The touch brought that warm feeling that was tingling in his fingertips straight back into his gut. 

The singer inclined his head slightly. “I live about a block from here. A little apartment complex. I’m worried about walking home in the dark. Would you mind walking me back to my place, officer? I’d feel much safer with such a strapping public servant escorting me.”

Oh, he had lines for days apparently. Geralt, or at least sober Geralt, should have scoffed that completely away. But he had come here looking to forget the sight of frightened eyes and crying children. He’d come to forget. And what better way than to drown in eyes that held no hint of fear. Eyes that were muting any care he had left to be alone for the night.

The little niggling voice still left in the back of his head was clearly not into his current thought path. He looked down at Jaskier’s lips and back up at his warm eyes, a slightly feral grin of his own appearing, telling that little voice right where it could shove its advice. 

“It would be my pleasure to see you safely home. Lead the way.”

~

The feeling of Jaskier’s hands on his waist as they entered the hallway of his apartment seared straight through his clothing. He was still pleasantly inebriated and his skin heated quickly as the younger man tugged him past the stairwells and up to his door. He had managed to tug Geralt’s shirt out of his waistband as they moved, and the way he pushed him up against the wall directly next to his door pulled a deep growl from him. He was less in control than he had expected to be. 

He hissed as teeth grazed his neck. He had thought the man small, but he was maybe two inches smaller than Geralt and possessed a fiery temperament and a fair bit of strength. 

Jaskier fumbled with his key in the door and managed to push it open while still pressing kisses wherever he could reach. 

Once inside, Geralt spun him up against the door and growled into his mouth, pinning him there with his hips and lips as he ripped off his jacket. Jaskier matched his growl with a deep moan of his own.

“Geralt…Gods, please, get your hands on my skin.”

A low moan of his own bubbled up from his chest and all coherent thought fled his mind, replaced only with a base urge to claim, fingers sliding up between the singer’s soft skin and his shirt, moving up along smooth abs to the softer fuzz of his chest. His fingers brushed over a nipple as he shifted his own mouth to bite softly at the skin beneath Jaskier’s jaw. The singer’s breath hitched and he made the sweetest moan. Geralt looked forward to tugging more of those noises from him.

“Bedroom, now.”

~

The younger man lay sprawled on his bed stomach down, arms flung out to the side. His dirty blonde hair curled around his ears and his breath even, deep in sleep. 

Guilt swirled through Geralt’s chest as he quietly slid his jeans back on. It was pre-dawn and he had gotten roughly three hours of sleep before waking up to the soft buzz of a text message on his phone. The young man beside him did not stir. He moved as silently about the room as he could before slipping out and sliding the bedroom door shut behind him, head throbbing and stomach churning.

He tried to push that guilty feeling down as he fetched the rest of his belongings and made for the front door. No alarm system. Good. He undid the deadbolt, clicked the handle lock into place and pulled it closed firmly behind him.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is shorter and I am unsure if that's just because I wanted to be a jerk, or because I used way too many words in the first to set shit up.
> 
> Have at! 
> 
> <3

_ Six Months Later _

Geralt was braced behind the open door of his car, gun carefully aimed at the empty space where a suspect had just been. He cursed and leaned back inside to check the radio again. Backup was ten minutes out. He didn’t want to lose this one. He  _ couldn’t _ lose this one. Not the first major break in his first high profile case. 

The suspect he was chasing was armed, dangerous, and wanted for a series of violent robberies. Each hit was a louder target than the one before, as if the thief was taunting the police force. He wasn’t letting this one get away. Even if he could tell it was pride spurring him one, Geralt was going to see this one through and close this down tonight.

He ducked away from his cover and peered around at street level for a pair of shoes. A hint of noise. Anything to tip him off. 

Sound of footsteps off to his left.

There! Heading for the alley.

He dashed forward, trying to keep some semblance of cover as he made for the bastard. His back-up was coming, if he could just keep him in his sights, he had him. He just needed to keep him close.

The suspect had made it to the edge of the alley and spun around, bracing his side against the building. He saw Geralt moving for him and began to raise his weapon. Geralt crouched lower at that, glanced around for any sort of cover and leveled his own weapon at the man. Damn him for a fool, he’d been so caught up in the hunt he had neglected the very basics of self-defense. 

The thief aimed his gun at Geralt and they both fired at the same time.

~

Geralt’s partner, Eskel, glared down at him, sitting on the side of the curb. Geralt just bled at him silently.

“You fucking idiot.”

“I got him.” He chanced a smug half-grin at his partner.

“Yeah. Nice shot. Right at the calf. Dropped him like a rock.” Eskel flicked his finger against Geralt’s wounded bicep making the man grunt and wince.

“Fuckin’ Ouch. Must you?!”

The paramedic attempting to check the wound let out an affronted noise at Eskel’s interference with his patient.

“When you’re a gods-damned idiot, yeah. Maybe next time you’ll WAIT FOR BACKUP.” He shouted at him. “Gods, you’ll be lucky if Vesemir just puts you on leave for a few weeks. You just made detective last month, Geralt! You not only put your life on the line, but are risking your whole career with these useless stunts.”

Geralt deflated at that. Fuck, Eskel was right. He wasn’t a damned beat cop anymore and he needed to act like it. Risks, calculated or not, were not going to get him anywhere at this point. 

The paramedic finished setting a large bit of gauze over the wound and tapping it down. “You were hit pretty good. You need several stitches to close that properly and you should head to the local hospital for it. Want us to take you?”

Geralt waved him off just as Eskel shook his head. 

“I’ll take him myself.”

The paramedic just nodded and moved off, too damn tired to argue with cops anymore.

“Come on. Up you go. You heard the man. Stitches. And some bourbon.”

Geralt smirked and heaved himself up off the ground, cradling his hurt arm. “ Who am I to argue with my partner? Though that bourbon better be first.”

~

Jaskier yawned, barely covering it with one hand while the other tapped a pen against an admission chart. He was on his last two hours of his shift in the ER and was looking forward to a stiff drink and a long nap. Being one of a handful of advanced nurses meant a lot of paperwork and lots of needles. He was also on his third pair of scrubs for the day and was ready for about four showers.

He was also desperately frustrated in a mostly physical sense and was very much looking forward to his upcoming day off. He thought briefly of flipping through his dating app again but shoved that thought firmly aside. He’d had quite enough one-night stands for a lifetime. And his last one had left a particularly nasty taste in his mouth. His own fault for very clearly propositioning the man in a way it could clearly be taken as a bump n’ run. But those hands had set fire to every nerve in his body, and those yellow eyes had imprinted themselves on his brain. He had rather unfortunate dreams about the jerky cop at least once a week, damn his eyes.

He shook off the thoughts and slowly rolled his shoulders back a few times to stretch them out, breathing in and out and grounding himself back down into his present. 

The head nurse wandered by and eyed him critically. She had a stick up her ass about him that he couldn't for the life of him understand.

“Did you finish notating the symptoms from 108?”

“Yes, Nenneke.”

“We have a patient waiting on sutures in 115, and triage is checking on a cop at the moment. Looks like he’ll need stitches as well. I’ll settle him in 118 and you make sure to get to him after.”

“Yes, Nenneke.”

“No need to take that tone with me, boy.”

Jaskier huffed a stray bit of his hair out of his face before nodding to the older woman and standing to head for his latest patient. She just hmmph’d and walked on. A cop hmm? Those were hit or miss. Some were easy patients, and others were more grumpy than needed. 

He made sure she was out of sight before rolling his eyes, picking up the chart for 115 and walking off. A young girl had fallen while rollerblading and left a decent gash in her chin. Five stitches recommended. He knocked on the door, plastered a smile to his face, and entered the room. Time to put a scared young girl at ease. One of Jaskier’s favorite bits of his job.

~

Geralt scuffed his shoe against the floor of the ER triage room he’d been stuffed into. Eskel had wandered off to find the cafeteria and some snackage, leaving him quite alone.

Hospitals gave him the creeps. It always felt like he was being watched and it smelled too strongly of the astringent cleaners used on every surface. And now he was being forced to wait for some slip of a nurse cause the real doctors were too busy to deal with petty stitches. 

He pulled his phone out with his good hand and pushed open a puzzle game. No sense in being bored to tears just cause he’d gone and done something idiotic. He’d hate to admit it, but Eskel had been right. From here on, he promised himself he’d be a bit more careful with the risks he took. It was time to act like a proper detective, and not some punk desperate to be appreciated.

Time to let go and leave that tossed about foster kid in the past where he belonged. Geralt turned all his remaining caring towards beating his high score, tuning out the noises of the hospital and his frustrations as he let himself be sucked into colorful blocks. 

He was frowning in frustration at a particularly hard level when he heard the knock at the door and the nurse finally entered.

“Detective Rivia..” A strangely familiar male voice started, causing Geralt’s eyes to jerk up…

...and meet equally startled blue ones.

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *giggles*


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long one?
> 
> I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm enjoying it.

“Geralt.” 

Jaskier’s voice held a tinge of… something that couldn’t quite be placed. Frustration? Anger? Geralt was under some painkillers already and was having a hard time focusing on vocal cues. The surprise had left his face though, that much he could gather, and had been replaced with a perfectly professional stare that gave away none of the inner turmoil he was certainly feeling.

“Jaskier….. You’re a nurse.”

“Oh, so you remember my name. Yes, I am a nurse. I’m the advanced nurse on duty and I’ll be handling your sutures.” He made some quick notes on the sticky note attached to the chart in his hands and moved to sit on the little rolling stool in the room. He pushed himself over to look critically at the wound, removing the bandage and carefully cleaning and drying it. He had a pair of thin-rimmed glasses in a pocket of his scrubs and flipped them out and settled them on his face to focus more clearly on Geralt’s wounds. 

Geralt had to remind himself to breathe as Jaskier glared at his arm, remaining silent as the other man worked. This was his one-time fling. The only time he’d let himself do something reckless with his personal life. It shouldn’t be bothering him so much. And yet…

“Got shot, hmm?”

He only nodded. His brain was in too much of a state to form coherent words just yet. He was too busy grappling with the guilt he had internalized since that night rearing its ugly head at the sight of those pretty eyes.

Jaskier mumbled something under his breath as he glided away again to rifle through the supply drawers. Geralt though it may have been something along the lines of ‘Serves you right’, but being doped up was making it hard to know for sure. 

The nurse swiveled back with an array of implements. Sutures, needles, and a syringe. “I’m going to numb the area and then close it up. You’ll need about eight stitches. Shouldn’t take long and then you can be on your way.”

And with absolutely no warning, he popped off the cap on the syringe and jabbed it in right next to the wound. Geralt winced. Jaskier smirked.

Oh so the singer  _ was _ a little feral, he had pegged that correctly at least. And mad. Understandably. He ducked his head down, staring at his knees as the nurse worked. Best not to antagonize the man, even if he was even more attractive perched on his little stool, a pair of glasses settled on the end of his nose.

Jaskier did not go out of his way to be gentle and made no idle chatter as he worked, sitting silently and focused entirely on making sure the sutures were neat and the wound clean. The object of his ire flinched only at the beginning and sat there equally silent, staring at the floor like a petulant child.

Geralt took the time to pull himself inside, focus on his own internal monologue instead of the pain in his arm. Why did he feel even more guilty now that the man had reappeared? Was it the way Jaskier was very clearly still mad? He supposed that could be it because it meant he hadn’t just forgotten about Geralt and moved on as a normal quick fling should have.

Geralt looked at the top of the nurse’s head and attempted to keep a neutral expression on his face. It looked so soft and smooth and he wanted to touch it like nothing else, knowing how it would feel between his fingers. 

Geralt knew what he needed to do. He needed to make this right in some way, at the very least.

As he finished tying off the sutures and re-bandaging the area, Geralt finally looked up and in the general direction of Jaskier, still not quite meeting his eye. Jaskier barely avoided rolling his eyes.

“You will want to keep that dry and clean for at least the next three days. The sutures should be absorbed by your body on their own. If there are any still lingering after two weeks, please do come back to have them removed or visit your own regular doctor.” He did not shy away from attempting direct eye contact over the edge of his glasses, sticking to his tense professionalism. The rolling stool spun slightly back from him as he stood up and removed his gloves. 

Geralt at least had the decency to look fully at him this time and acknowledge his professional advice. As tense as Jaskier had been attempting to make his terse instructions, he couldn’t quite handle the direct eye contact as he should. 

It didn’t take long for him to turn his back on Geralt, tossing the gloves away and moving to focus instead on the chart. Before he could say anything else, a quiet voice came from behind him

“I’m sorry, Jaskier.”

The soft apology had his spine stiffening and his heart speeding up. He remained defensive, but there was hope there. An apology was the least he deserved.

“Oh?” He turned his head to look at Geralt over his shoulder. Glasses still perched, gaze still leveled over the top of the rims. Geralt swallowed his nerves and the tiny voice in the back of his head that was complimenting the way those glasses made him look. Time to be as direct as a recently shot, then doped up, cop could be.

“I was an ass. A drunk ass. And a person in my position should know better. You have my sincere apology for the way I acted and the way I left. Well.. more the way I left, if I’m being honest. Less about the acting..ah, not that it was an act! Oh… hell, what was in that shot.” He rambled a bit and chose instead to put his hand over his mouth to stop whatever verbal nonsense was currently going on.

Jaskier decided to finally turn the rest of him to face Geralt. The man still occupied far too much of his brain space, and while he was highly unlikely to end up back between the sheets with him, this was a welcome conversation. He even smirked a bit at the poor fellow.

“Well. I must admit I was not expecting that. Thank you, Geralt. Apology accepted.”

Geralt released a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding and chanced a very small smile as he stood up. “I am glad to hear it.” He glanced down at his arm and then his surroundings. “Am I free to go? I really should head back to the station and write up my report before it all fades.”

Jaskier took a deep breath and chose to fully smile back. “Yes.” He removed the bottom two papers from his clipboard, signed one, and handed them both over. “Read these over, initial at the bottom and talk to the discharge desk before you leave. No offense, but I hope I don’t run into you here again.”

Geralt chuckled at that, and the noise did things to poor Jaskier’s insides. “I hope so as well. Better circumstances, maybe.” There was a sad tone to his last word and he reached into his pocket to pull something out. He handed it over to Jaskier and nodded at him before walking quickly out the door.

Jaskier just blinked and looked at what was in his hand. It was a business card. With Geralt’s phone number and email address on it. What an odd thing for a cop to have. His eyes scanned over it further and realized it said  _ Detective Geralt Rivia _ . So. Not just a cop then.

He turned and strode out into the hallway, looking at the retreating back of Geralt Rivia with a smirk. Oh.. this is going to be very interesting indeed. Whether it was to be a good interesting or not was yet to be decided, but at the very least Jaskier was going to enjoy making the man squirm.

~

Three days later, Geralt was sitting cross-legged on his bed, a laptop balanced on his lap, and pretending very hard not to be frustrated that the only person in his recent texts was Eskel. The phone was practically burning a hole in his pocket with how much he was trying  _ not _ to focus on it. 

He fluffed the pillow behind his back and refocused his attention on the screen in front of him. He was attempting to write up a report from the day and his brain wouldn’t leave well enough alone. He should have just stayed in the office and forced himself to write this on the flickering screen of his work computer. Damn his sensitive eyesight.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders back a few times, centering himself. 

Okay. Focus. 

Keep the details in mind. Short and to the point.

Geralt opened his eyes and turned his focus back to his laptop screen, resting his hands on the keyboard, and getting to work. 

He passed the next hour in that manner, tuning out his anxiety and surroundings and just bringing back the necessary facts from the day to add to the word document in front of him. He added the final details, attached his name and saved the file. 

Major task complete he allowed his attention to move back to his apartment and himself and realized he was starving. He groaned, knowing he was two days away from pay and there was only ramen waiting for him in the kitchen and a sad can of vegetable soup. A groan wormed its way out of him as he set his laptop to the side and stood up to stretch.

His phone made a slight buzz from its spot on the side table. He picked it up and thumbed open the messages. 

~Unknown~

_ Hey, Geralt. _

_ You busy? _

Unknown? That was … it had to be …

_ Jaskier? _

~Unknown~

_ Ooh, good guess! _

_ Yes. Tis I.  _

Geralt snorted. Who talked like that?

_ Just finished up for the day. Why? _

Instead of a message the phone began to ring. Geralt nearly dropped it in surprise. Instead, he only fumbled slightly before sliding the call open.

“Ah, hello?”

“Why, hello, Geralt. Glad I caught you at a good time.”

He adjusted the phone to a better position and sat back down on the couch.

“Like I said. I just finished for the day. What can I do for you?” Was that okay? Too professional? Not casual enough? Ugh, he hated talking on the phone.

“Wonderful!” Jaskier’s voice tugged at Geralt’s gut as he practically purred the word. “I was hoping I had caught you before you had eaten. A friend and I were going to grab some food and a drink nearby and I was wondering if you’d like to join us. I’m sure you’ll love the place.”

Geralt’s stomach rumbled in response. “Ah, food does sound good.” He briefly attempted to bring the responsible part of his brain to the forefront and consider his pocketbook. “But, ah… I can’t really… afford to at this point. Maybe on Saturday?” Stupid rent and bills making his non-existent social life even more so. 

Jaskier laughed, a sweet husky sound. “Oh don’t worry about that. I’ll cover for you, and all I ask in return is your very lovely company.”

“Are you certain you called the right person?”

“Mm. I am. Don’t be so harsh on yourself! Come on over to the Local Outpost. I’m sure you remember the place. There’s a lovely burger and wing joint next door that delivers food right to the bar!”

Geralt swallowed, his throat suddenly a little tight. Ah. That bar. He hadn’t been back since that night despite it being one of his favorite local spots. Especially once he had stumbled out of Jaskier’s apartment and realized that he was simply in a different building of his exact same apartment complex. Wasn’t that just the damn kicker. He rubbed a few fingers at his temple.

“Ah, yes I know the place. When did you want to meet?”

“Mm, well it’s 4:30 right now. So… 6?”

“I’ll see you then.”

“Wonderful. See you then, Darling.”

And before Geralt’s brain could catch up to  _ that _ particular term of endearment, Jaskier had hung up on him, leaving him further perplexed. 

Dinner and drinks with him and a ‘friend’, hmm? He had a sneaking suspicion this was going to be part opportunity to properly apologize, and part opportunity for Jaskier to embarrass the ever-living hell out of him. 

He sighed and headed for his shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love everyone who has left Kudos ^-^ You make my heart happy.


	4. Chapter Four

Jaskier sat on the edge of his bed, blushed bright red and attempting to stave off a mild panic attack. 

Breathe in.

Breath out.

Ohhhh no. Oh, what had he just done?

That had not been his intention in calling. He was going to ask him about his free time this weekend and see about having a very mild lunch conversation, maybe some coffee. Clear the air. Get a proper apology and maybe make friends with the guy. Goodness knows, he needs more friends.

But then that gruff voice had been in his ear and suddenly he didn’t want to wait. He was going out with his best friend Essie this evening and well, what was one more along? One more tall...handsome...gruff...tall...one. Jaskier rubbed a hand over his face and raised his phone again. He needed to let her know it wouldn’t be just the two of them. And then he needed a shower. And likely a good hour to panic change his outfit four times. 

Damn Geralt and his sexy voice and golden eyes. And glorious ass, and abs that made his mouth water. And… Stop it, Jaskier! This is the man that left him without even leaving a note. Gathered up his things and left Jaskier just laying naked in bed, all by himself, to wake up to an empty apartment still smelling of him and no idea of how to ever get in contact with him again.

So here was his chance. His chance for an answer to the awkward heartache he had felt upon waking that morning. A chance to make amends and maybe ease the nights he woke from dreaming of yellow eyes. Because Gods did he dream of those eyes. Which just wasn’t fair in the slightest, but here he was. Pining.

He shook his head and texted Essie instead of thinking on Geralt any further. 

_ Yo! Essie-bessie! _

_ Gonna have an extra tonight _

Jaskier stood up and headed for his shower. 

~

Geralt decided to show up to the bar earlier than expected, in desperate need of a pre-meeting drink. He perched on his usual stool and waved at the bartender. 

She came over and eyed him. “Haven’t seen you here in a long time, stranger.”

He shrugged one shoulder and grunted slightly. “Been busy. Got promoted. Can I get a tall 7&7?”

She nodded and started flipped a high glass over. “Of course, dear.” As she measured out the gin she winked at him. “I’ll only charge you for the short glass. As a congrats to ya.” 

Geralt smiled slightly back at her and inclined his head. “Thanks, Eve. You’re a gem.”

She nodded, pushed the finished drink at him, and moved on.

He sat quietly, sipping at his drink and watching the door. It was 5:30 and Jaskier hadn’t asked to meet up until 6. He had some time to down some liquid courage. Or just give him more opportunity to embarrass the hell out of himself. He was really unsure about how this whole evening was going to play out. 

Barely 15 minutes had gone by before the door creaked open and Jaskier walked in, with a small brunette woman trailing behind laughing at something he had said. Geralt slid his eyes over but didn’t turn his head, hoping slightly that he wouldn’t be recognized and could walk up to him at his own pace.

No such luck.

Jaskier immediately noticed Geralt at the bar and his mild look of surprise was quickly replaced with a dazzling smile as he leaned back towards his companion and muttered something, pointing off to a table near the back. She moved off with a nod and he sauntered closer to where Geralt was. 

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“Jaskier, you invited me here.” 

The younger man simply smiled. “Yes, but you showed up. I was mildly concerned about that point.”

Geralt blushed and took a sip of his beverage. “Ah… well… I wasn’t about to stand you up.”

“This time.”

Geralt looked up at him with a mild glare. “Now, Jaskier…”

But before he could finish that sentence, Jaskier was flapping his hands at him. “Sorry, Sorry. Low blow. But honestly, it was more of a low blow for me, so yes, I will, in fact, take my One opportunity to be a butt about it and then leave it at that. Honestly, I came to have a real conversation with you, Geralt, not be an ass. So I swear on my favorite set of satin sheets that I will not be an arrogant jerk for the rest of the evening.”

Geralt raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? Satin sheets? How do you even stay on those?”

Jaskier made a funny noise in the back of his throat and looked over towards his friend who had secured the table he wanted. “Oh look at that, Essie got my favorite table. Let’s go say hello, shall we?”

And with that, he popped away from the bar where he had been leaning to talk to Geralt and sauntered over to his friend, leaving the other man to gape at him and try and follow. 

Essie grinned at Jaskier and craned her neck to look over at the man he had just walked away from. “Hey babe, is that your plus one?”

Jaskier took his seat, and a deep breath, before plastering an easy smile on his face. “Mm, yes, that’s him.” He carefully left off the name. There had definitely been more than one occasion immediately following the incident that he may have gotten gloriously hammered and bared all his woes to the lovely lady at his side. And that may or may not color how this whole evening is going to end up. 

Which could end up running Geralt off completely, and while the thought of that tightened his stomach like nothing else, at least he would know.

Geralt himself had finally wandered over, this time with a second drink in hand. As he slid into the empty seat next to Jaskier, he set one of the drinks in front of the other man. Jaskier looked at it curiously.

“I thought I said I was covering for you, Mr. Broke as Hell?”

Geralt had the decency to blush a little. “Well. Yes. And while I can’t cover a full meal, I can at least get you a drink. Besides, I think you’ll like it. It’s sweet but still has a little bite. Like you.”

Jaskier blinked at the glass in front of him and looked up at Geralt with his mouth slightly open like he was trying to say something, but dammit Geralt had just been  _ smooth _ and  _ flirty _ and his brain had taken a minor vacation as he gaped.

The shy smile on Geralt’s face fell, assuming the silence meant his offer wasn’t the best. “Ah, it’s just. Flavored vodka and lemonade.”

Jaskier’s brain finally finished rebooting and he flapped a hand at him in an attempt to be nonchalant. “Oh no, dear, it’s fine. I actually love both flavored vodkas and lemonade so I will trust your judgment.”

The smile returned.

Essie cleared her throat and turned her gaze onto Geralt. “Hi there, I’m Essie ‘The Third Wheel’ Daven. And who might you be?”

Jaskier barely had time to giggle at her addition, definitely didn’t have time to open his own mouth and save the situation, before Geralt was extending his hand to her and mumbling “I’m sorry, I’m Geralt Rivia.”. Jaskier’s mouth stayed slightly open and, once again, no sound came out.

Essi’s brows immediately furrowed. “Geralt?  _ The _ Geralt? The one I had to nurse this one’s heartache over for two months?” She all but growled and jerked her thumb towards Jaskier.

Geralt’s eyes widened just a little and now it was his turn to be speechless. Heartache? He chanced a glance over at Jaskier and the young man was bright red. He did what now?

“Essi!! Private! Conversations!”

She shrugged at him. “Then don’t drag the source of your woe out to dinner, hmm?”

Geralt just stared at the two of them, trying very hard to not turn bright red. “Look, if I’m making this awkward between you two, I can just go home. It’s fine. I live right around the corner.”

Jaskier paused in shaking a finger in Essi’s face and turned his frustration towards Geralt instead. “Oh no. You’re staying. I invited you out because I wanted you to meet my  _ best friend _ and to have a conversation where one of us is not holding a large needle.”

Essi raised her brows at this and looked oddly at Geralt. “What now?”

“I got shot. He stitched me up.”

“You got  _ shot _ ?!”

“Comes with the gig.”

“What on earth do you do for a living?” Essi gapped at him.

Geralt looked confused at this. “Jaskier, didn’t tell you? I’m a cop...well a Detective but still.”

Essi sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, turning her glare towards a sheepish looking Jaskier. “No, he did not tell me.”

“Ha, heh, you sure? I’m sure I told you.” Jaskier rubbed the back of his neck and took a sip of his drink. “Ooh, this is good! Thank you, Geralt. Now. Honestly. I am very very fond of  _ Detective  _ Rivia, Essi, and I really just wanted us all to have a good night and get to know each other. Is that so bad?” He batted his eyelashes at her and she just groaned. 

“Alright, fine. Clean slate. Let’s have a nice night. You owe me at least two drinks, Jaskier.” She frowned at him before picking up the menu from the restaurant next door, flipping it open with an angry little crack.

He grinned at her. “Of course! How else are we going to enjoy karaoke night?”

Geralt sat up quite straight and looked back over to the tiny ‘stage’. Thursday. Right. Shit.

“Fuck.”

Jaskier nearly tipped his chair over in his laughter. Oh, this was going to be glorious.

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More!
> 
> Words!
> 
> Working actively on the next bit, but I have two interviews this coming week and a semi-major project for my boss so...like.. Wheee?
> 
> I love the kudos ^-^


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I don't like this chapter. I re-wrote it four times, but hey. I'm having more fun with what comes after so... yay?
> 
> Have at!
> 
> *drops this and runs*

Geralt walked a pace behind Jaskier and Essi as they left the bar shortly after midnight. 

Somehow, not only had the pair of them sung two duets and two songs all by themselves, they had managed to get enough drinks into Geralt that he even begrudgingly joined Jaskier in a single duet. He had been horrendously embarrassed, even with Jaskier singing the female role, and there was no getting him to do it again. 

But all in all, he had enjoyed himself. He and Essi, once past the tenseness, found common ground in finding the best ways to fluster Jaskier during the conversation. He had laughed more freely than he had in months, if not years, and found himself feeling lighter as they walked Essi to her car. 

“Thanks for not being nearly as much of an Ass as I thought you would be, Geralt.” She snarked with a grin. “Might even be cool to all hang out again at some point.” With a wink, she pulled open her car door and slid in. Jaskier leaned into her open window and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Get home safe, Ess. I’ll text you in the morning.”

He stepped back to stand by Geralt as she waved at them and maneuvered out of the dark parking lot. 

“I agree with her, you know. We should do this again.” He smiled up at Geralt and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I live this way...which...you know...but ah, I should be good to get home on my own. Did you drive? Where’s your car?”

Geralt instantly blushed, remembering the absolute embarrassment he had felt when he fled the morning after. For not only did he know where Jaskier’s apartment was, but once he was outside and not fully distracted, he found himself clearly in simply a different building in his own complex. To be fair with himself, he hadn’t exactly been paying attention the night before, mind and hands firmly on the ass by his side.

“Ah, my car is at my apartment. I live close enough to walk.”

“Oh! Now isn’t that a coincidence? Though, to be fair there are a lot of apartments around here. It’s almost excessive. Which one is yours?”

Geralt cleared his throat and pretended to be very interested in something far off. “Yours, actually.” He mumbled. 

Jaskier stopped and slightly cocked his head to the side, a mild frown marring his features. “Mine? What...you mean you live in the same apartment complex as I do? The Chase?”

He ran his fingers through the hair at the back of his head absently, trying to meet the younger man’s eyes. “Yeah, I live in building 36.”

“And I live in 34...That’s… right across the parking lot from mine. I didn't realize you lived so close all this time.” 

“Look at it as a good thing.” Geralt shrugged as he started walking toward the main sidewalk. “Now, I can pester you anytime I get hurt. My own nurse, three yards away.”

Jaskier tried to say something snarky back to that, but his own voice decided to abandon him and instead make a funny choking noise at the words ‘My own nurse’. The implications behind him needing a nurse caught up to him a little faster and he skipped over to catch up with him, falling into step to his right.

“You need to be careful enough to not need a personal medkit, okay? Cause, it would be a waste to the entire world to have anything happen to you.” 

Geralt smiled over at him and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jaskier just let out a small huff and crossed his arms across his chest, both to portray the huffiness he felt, and to also keep his hands from trying anything they shouldn’t. He wanted them to be on friendly terms again, the man was hysterical in his own gruff way, but he wasn’t ready to let himself be quite that vulnerable again. And if the bastard kept smiling at him that way, he wasn’t sure how long his resolve would last.

The pair fell into a comfortable silence as they walked home. Well, Geralt was silent, and Jaskier was telling ER horror stories to try and get any kind of reaction out of him. So far, he had barely gotten two hums, one mild grunt, and one raising of the eyebrows as he listed off the various household items he had helped remove from orifices of varying individuals. 

Before long they were loitering by the tree connecting the parking lots for their two buildings, still making idle chatter and not quite ready to give it up yet. A breeze kicked up, floating stray strands of Geralt’s hair into his face and past his nose, making it twitch and his whole face scrunch up in annoyance.

Jaskier just laughed and clasped his hands firmly behind his back, lest he tuck those bits of hair back himself. “Looks like Mother Nature has decided to convince us it’s time to head in. It is starting to get a little chilly and all that.”

Geralt pushed the offending hairs out of his face and held them in place with one hand. He grinned slightly at Jaskier and nodded. The breeze was pleasant, and the night had seemed young and Geralt just didn’t want to go back to his empty apartment by himself. He tilted his head ever so slightly to the side. “You getting cold? Would you like some tea?”

Tea. Such an innocent little offer. It was enough to twist up Jaskier’s insides. Maybe he could get a glimpse of the way Geralt lived, and maybe the offer would entail other delicious ways to keep warm. He shook his head slightly, as much to clear the thoughts as to answer the other man.

“Maybe some other time. I have an on-call shift starting tomorrow afternoon and should get some sleep. Text you later?”

Geralt smiled, but it didn’t seem to reach to the rest of his face. “Sure thing. I’ll see you later, Jaskier. Thank you for tonight.”

“My pleasure. Good night, Geralt.” He sketched a courtly bow that wouldn’t have looked out of place at a Ren Faire, but at least also got the smile on the detective’s face to grow a little more sincere, before turning on his heel and heading towards his own building. 

Geralt watched him go and the smile faded slightly to be replaced by a mild frown as he turned himself in his own apartment’s direction. As he neared the door though, he hesitated, keys in hand. With a huff, he shoved them back into his pocket and headed for the walking path that wound its way through the apartment grounds. The night air was crisp and clear and he wanted to think while out in the open and not stuffed inside his one-bedroom place. 

Jaskier had reached out and brought him out, both physically and emotionally. Hell, he’d played up his own level of inebriation to match the enthusiasm at the table, and had even allowed himself to be dragged up on that shitty stage. Singing was certainly not his forte, and yet he actually had fun. He wasn’t likely to ever admit that to Jaskier himself, but he could at least admit it in his head. Having a social life was better than he thought. And if it granted him a memory of Jaskier all but serenading him, all the better. 

He tried to make a list of all the friends he hung out with outside of the force and found that the list had exactly zero bullet points. Maybe after tonight, that number would increase? It was, quite frankly, embarrassing how much he had made work his entire life and nothing else. 

Geralt shuffled his feet as he walked, hands in pockets, gaze slightly raised towards the stars. He’d be a liar if he said he hadn’t thought of Jaskier over the months. In fact, the singer had invaded his dreams on a number of occasions. Sometimes chastely, most of the time not. And little wonder. The man lived so very close, and that hadn’t slipped his mind as he was slipping Jaskier’s apartment at the break of dawn. 

He had heard music a few times over the month. Someone in a nearby apartment was on their porch, playing the guitar and singing softly. The voice played in his dreams, and he realized it had been Jaskier all along. After a night of hearing him sing a wider variety of songs, he could recognize it now. 

As he looped the grounds back around towards his own place, he couldn’t help but hope that he hadn’t completely ruined his chances, for he knew without a doubt he would never get that voice and its pair of blue eyes out of his head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments and support!
> 
> This whole quarantine nonsense both makes it easier to write and harder at the same time.   
> So, I continue to have no update schedule, but I am constantly writing and editing so thank you for reading!!


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys... You wonderful people... I am so sorry  
> I'll keep this short because the list of things that actually went down would go over the note character limit, but I have had a MONTH.
> 
> It's been hard, and my drive to write died entirely. 
> 
> But! 
> 
> I have recovered. I have found my groove again. And this story continues ever forward.
> 
> This one is short, but I am in a Mood and there will be more, and an ending, likely before this month ends. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Back inside his apartment, warm and in a pair of comfy sweatpants, Geralt still couldn’t shake the restless feeling that kept him buzzing from room to room, cleaning idly. When the clock clicked over to 4 am and he knew he was out of luck for any sleep, he moved into the kitchen and set some coffee to brew. Four cups in a 24 hour period wouldn't kill him, right? He set a mug next to the coffee maker and went over to his pantry, tossing open the door and scanning the shelves for ideas. 

On other nights when sleep eluded him, stress baking or cooking seemed to be his go-to. Now he shuffled around the ingredients for pancakes and set to work. He hummed some of the songs that Jaskier had sung at the bar as he stirred and heated the skillet. Something nagged at him that he was missing something as he stirred the batter. He frowned at the batter and his thoughts strayed back to a pair of blue eyes and a warm smile. A small grin snuck onto his face as he turned and fished his bag of chocolate chips out of his baking stash. Perfect.

He had made too many, and frankly that was on purpose. He tucked four into a thick tupperware container and wrapped it up in a dishtowel to keep it warm. Tied up nicely, this sat on his table as he moved off to get ready for his workday. 

30 minutes later, Geralt was setting the towel wrapped package in front of Jaskier’s door. He snapped a picture of it sitting nestled on the welcome mat and popped open his messages, flipping to his history with Jaskier.

_ [image] _

_ Merry Christmas. _

Switching the screen off, Geralt grinned and strode off for his car. It was a little thing, but he hoped it brought one of those bright smiles to his face when he saw it. He glanced at his watch as he got to his car. Just before 5:30. Plenty of time to stop for some extra coffee before getting to the precinct. 

~

Geralt was glancing at his phone for the fourth time in the last hour while sitting at his desk, pretending that he was actually working on research. Eskel leaned over their shared desk space and narrowed his eyes at him. There was something about the grumpy man's strangely not grumpy face that had Eskel questioning.

“Got a new lover?”

Geralt choked and looked up at him. “What?”

Eskel waved his hand towards the phone that kept snagging his attention. “You keep looking at that rather expectantly. There are only a few things that make a phone that interesting, and a pair of pretty eyes is usually the most common culprit. So….?”

Geralt leaned back in his chair and shrugged. “I’m not seeing anyone, no. I’m just waiting on a notice that a friend got something I left them.” He looked down at his watch. 10:30 in the morning. It was possible he hadn’t actually gotten up yet. 

His partner gave a small shake of his head. “Yeah. Well, you’ll tell me when you want to I suppose.”

“I just did.”

“Yeah, I don’t buy that even a little. You show up here an hour before you need to, put  _ sugar  _ in your  _ coffee _ , and keep getting mildly distracted by your phone. Plus there is chocolate on your pants.” Eskel pointed at a small spot just below the pocket. 

“Oh, son of a -! And just how long were you gonna let me walk around like this?” He licked his thumb and rubbed at the offending spot. 

Eskel just grinned at him. Geralt glared, licked at his thumb again, and rubbed away the last remnants of chocolate. 

The phone gave a soft ding, and his glare disappeared immediately. He reached for it as Eskel grinned even wider. 

“Called it.”

Geralt rolled his eyes and flicked open his phone.

_ ~Jaskier~ _

_ [three crying laughter emojis] _

_ It’s June, Geralt.  _

He snorted a tiny laugh. Eskel tossed himself back in his chair and roared in laughter. 

“You snorted! You adorable dork! Now I know you lied to me.”

_ Semantics. _ _   
_ _ Did you like them? _

“I didn’t lie to you. I’m not seeing anyone. Single as always, Esk.”

Eskel wiped at his eyes dramatically and nodded. “Whatever you say, lover boy.”

_ ~Jaskier~ _

_ [image of half-eaten pancakes] _

_ The chocolate chips were a nice touch.  _

_ Thank you, Geralt.  _

“Ooh, do you have pictures? Brunette? Redhead? Does she have a sister? Spill”

_ Anytime.  _ _   
_ _ I like to cook. _

Geralt clicked his screen off and glared at him. “No, I don’t have pictures, because I am  _ not seeing anyone _ . Seriously, it’s nothing interesting." He paused in consideration, "And I actually don't know if he has a sister.” He tucked the phone back in his pocket and purposefully ignored any further buzzing, as well as the way Eskel's eyebrows shot into his hairline at the masculine pronoun. “Now, come on. Let me see what reports you’ve got.”

Eskel was about to pester his partner further when the Chief poked his head out of his office and turned his gaze on them. 

“Rivia, Wilk! Got a case for you two.” He waved at them and went back into his office.

Geralt popped out of his chair and Eskel groaned. 

“We are tabling this for later, Rivia.” Eskel grumbled to him as they headed for the office. 

~

Jaskier stretched awake shortly before 10 to a very mild headache and a dead cellphone. Groaning, he shuffled out of bed to plug it in, detangling his legs from the sheets on the way over. He scrubbed a hand over his face as he looked at the time once his phone registered power was finally flowing to it. 

An hour and a half before he needed to head out for the hospital. Just enough time for some food, a little yoga, and a hot shower. He decided on the yoga first to clear his head, and shuffled around in his living room, pulling out his bright purple mat before settling into a milder routine.

Thirty minutes later and Jaskier was feeling very loose and wibbly and decided it was definitely time for some breakfast. He popped into his bedroom to retrieve his phone. Surprisingly he already had a text from Geralt. The grin that lit his face was instantaneous. He clicked it open and there was a picture of something vaguely box-shaped and wrapped in the ugliest brown dish towel he had ever seen...sitting right in front of his door apparently. 

He let out a soft ‘Oh’ and booked it over to his front door. Sure enough, right there in the threshold was the bundle. He carefully picked it up and untied it from the towel. Inside were four chocolate chip pancakes that had long since ceased being warm. As he carried them back inside he looked closer at the texts. First thing he noticed was the absolutely lunacy of the words ‘Merry Christmas’. The next thing he noticed was the even more insane time stamp of 5:15am. 

As far as apologies went, pancakes were top tier stuff. Especially with the chocolate chips thrown in there. Jaskier covered them in a damp paper towel and popped them in the microwave for a moment before texting Geralt back, grinning at not only the idea that he cooked pancakes for him at Nope-O’clock in the morning, but that he also had to be silly with his texts. Big, brawny cop on the outside, a soft, sweet cookie on the inside. He texted him back before going for his food.

He folded the towel and set it next to his sink before settling down at his tiny bar counter with a glass of milk and his re-heated pancakes made with love. At the first bite, he realized both how hungry he was and how good a cook Geralt was. He hoped the man shared his snacks more often after this. He wolfed down two in record time and paused for a breath long enough to send off more texts.

The goopy man had him grinning from ear to ear. 

_ ~GerAss~ _

_ Anytime. _

_ I like to cook. _

A brief image of Geralt in an apron popped into his mind before he could shake it off. No, nope. Not yet. Don’t go down the rabbit hole of lusting after the dork allergic to conversations. Remember what Essi said. Make him work for it. He nodded to the invisible Essi in his head and looked back to his phone.

_ Well you’re good at it.  _ _   
_ _ I’d say I would love to return the favor, but alas cooking is not one of my great skills. _

_ I can, however, make a mean grilled cheese sandwich and killer french toast.  _

With both belly and heart full, he stood up and stretched and made off for the shower. With some luck, he’d also have enough time to actually make himself a lunch and some snacks for the long day ahead of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you soon ;)


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this written to all but the very end. Cause I had a manic night of writing.
> 
> So here, have more!

Geralt and Jaskier continued in a friendly, almost exclusively text-based friendship for the next several weeks as work and opposite schedules kept them fairly pre-occupied. 

Jaskier returned the favor by making french toast and delivering it in a similar fashion to Geralt’s doorstep, whereupon he was kindly asked to leave the breakfast foods to the professionals (rude!) and then gifted an extremely fancier form of the same food back the next week.

They sent each other photos of food, snacks, and odd things they found whilst working. Usually, for Jaskier this meant a photo of an innocent object with absolutely no context, leaving Geralt to assume it had previously been inside another person and wondering even further why he thought this little psycho was cute.

For Geralt, it was mostly his favorite food truck finds from around the city along with colorful and sometimes snarky descriptions of each, and oh how ‘wouldn’t it be nice for Jas to have a normal person schedule so maybe they could share it sometime?’. These little hints usually got him some kind of flirty selfie from the nurse, so he pestered him almost relentlessly. 

A few afternoons they had actually been able to snag lunch at the same time. They had sat together on the bench outside the hospital and talked over their cafeteria sandwiches. Geralt even smiled from time to time and he knew he had caught the man staring at his throat as he drank. It made a warm fuzzy feeling swirl through his chest. The man’s grumpy face, golden eyes, and silver hair had drawn Jaskier in initially, like a challenge, but it was the small smiles and awkward sense of humor that hooked him completely. 

The constant barrage of food and flirtation from Geralt was making it harder and harder for Jaskier to even care that he’d once banged and bolted in a decidedly assholish manner. He wanted to spend more afternoons with this man, laughing and joking as they slowly fell in love. Wait... In love? Well… it certainly wasn’t out of the realm of possibility now. Not when he knew Geralt could actually blush and was particularly adorable when Jaskier managed to make him stammer. 

It was with this in mind, Jaskier decided he finally needed to find a suitable way to both let him know he was forgiven and to ask him out on a true date. How hard could that possibly be?

“This is impossible, Essi!” Jaskier whined into his phone as he sat on the sidewalk outside the hospital, a few yards away from the ambulance bay. “I live for romance and poetry, I can’t just ask him blandly!”

“Oh please, Jaskier, nothing you ever do is bland. If you’re ready and you think he is too...just ask him. Then be your usual wild self and make the actual date what you sink this much energy into.”

Jaskier leaned back onto one hand and sighed, looking up at the clouds overhead. “You’re right as usual. Next week I go back on early rotations and I’ll actually have free time at the same time Geralt does. That and all the heinously adorable flirting he’s been up to lately have me really thinking it’s time. I want to be with him, Es. He’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”

“Well, he certainly isn’t as rude as you. When he isn’t sneaking out of apartments in the wee hours of the morning that is.”

“Now who’s being rude, hmm?” But he chuckled as he said it. “Want to get together tonight at the bar? Nothing like a little karaoke and drinking to inspire the romantic vibes.”

Essi laughed on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, when do you think you’ll be able to get off work?”

He looked at his watch and mentally went over the last couple of tasks he had for the day. “Barring any wild and crazy emergencies, I would say around 9. It’s just about 7 now and I don’t have too much left in the day. So I’d say meeting up around 10 is probably a safe bet. Give me time for a shower and a snack.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you then, lover boy.”

He ended the call and flipped over to his messages, looking over the latest from Geralt about three hours ago. They had been talking about a local Ethiopian place Geralt wanted to take him to when he finally had a normal schedule that allowed for typical dinner times. Jaskier had texted him back that it might be a possibility soon enough and had included a couple of winky faces for good measure. A stray curl drifted into his field of vision and he blew it out of his face in annoyance. 

Typically, Geralt would have responded to that fairly quickly. He must be out on a case or something. Well, he still had a little bit of time to relax before he was needed inside again. Might as well goof off on social media. 

He took a silly selfie with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead and his eyes gazing to the sky, then posted it to Instagram with a tagline that read “-sighs dramatically in ignored-”. He looked over the final post and giggled at it. Not that Geralt would see it, he was allergic to social media, but it made him feel better and only slightly petty.

With a grin, he flipped over to a little puzzle game to kill the time and tuned out the noises around him. He had just enough time to beat the level he was on before his alarm went off letting him know to go back inside. A siren blip and lights in his peripheral caught his attention as he was stashing his phone back in his pocket. Looks like an ambulance was heading towards the bay. With any luck they wouldn’t need him, there should be enough emergency staff to handle whatever was thrown their way. 

But as he started meandering back towards the doors, something tugged at the back of his mind, keeping him walking slow, attention vaguely on the ambulance as it pulled to a stop in the bay. Usually, Jaskier did not see any need to watch the drama of new patients coming in via ambulance. If he was needed, he would be paged. If he wasn’t, then he was better off keeping his attention firmly on the patients already under his care. Still, he couldn't shake the strangest feeling that he needed to pay close attention this time. 

He was a step away from heading back inside when the automatic doors slid open and medical staff rushed out to meet the EMTs, brushing past him on their way. The doors to the back of the ambulance jerked open and he heard snippets of the tech's conversation as one of them spoke quickly to a doctor. He stopped in his tracks and swiveled his focus entirely to the scene playing out before him. 

Gunshot wound. 

Upper torso. 

_ Cop. _

Jaskier would always recall the way the lights bouncing off the shiny window panes irritated his eyes, and the sound of a particular happy songbird trilling away in a nearby tree, as he caught sight of the patient, bright silver hair bunched and caught in the straps of the neckbrace of the stretcher below him. Blood soaking the visible parts of his shirt. He forgot briefly how to breathe for a moment before he felt himself lurching forward, desperate to get to the man before him, screaming as he reached out.

“GERALT!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -cackles-


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't wait. Must post.  
> This is a long one.  
> Asdkjlsg

Jaskier managed to get all the way to the edge of the stretcher before he was caught by the shoulder by another nearby nurse. He strained against her grip as they rushed the stretcher away and out of sight. Gods, there was so much blood. So much. He rounded on the nurse pulling hard at his upper arm. 

“Let me go!”

“Jaskier! You can’t just rush a patient!” She spoke firmly to him. He growled and she finally let go of his arm. Now that the trauma team had wheeled away, there was no way for him to figure anything out until he got back to the nurses' station. 

“That’s not a patient to me! He’s my… “ Jaskier’s throat closed up on him before he could get any more words out, and he was dangerously on the verge of tears. He didn’t spare another glance at the nurse who had stopped him, simply spun on his heel and marched back inside, heading straight to clean up before hunting down whatever information he could find. He jerked his phone from his pocket and shot off a text to Essi. 

_ Emergency. Won’t be home tonight. _

He washed his hands thoroughly in the bathroom and scrubbed at his face. Frustration firmly took the place of the absolute shock and horror that had smashed into him upon seeing who could only have been Geralt in the one place he had desperately never wanted to see him. He had to get to the nurses' station. He had to find out what had happened. With another scrub of cold water over his face, he stomped out of the bathroom and down the hall towards the triage nurses station. Someone there had to know, and he had to talk to Nenneke. He could barely focus and would be no good to any of his patients tonight. 

It was just his luck that she was standing right there when he rounded the corner and reached for the computer station nearest him. 

“Pankratz. You’re late back from break. They need an extra pair of hands in trauma 2... ” She crowded near him and looked him up and down, narrowing her eyes as she took in his face. If it was even possible, she frowned harder. “What happened to you?”

“What’s in trauma 2?”

Nenneke folded her arms over her chest and stared him down. “Gunshot victim. A police officer. And they need a second pair of hands. Now… Are you going to tell me what’s wrong and go and help them? Or do I need to page Isla?”

Jaskier drew in a shaky breath, closing his eyes to ground himself for a moment. They needed help. That was never a good sign. But he knew, just knew, that he wouldn’t hold it together if he went in there. 

“Page Isla. I’m fairly certain the patient’s name is Geralt Rivia, and I am personally compromised for this case.” There was a tremor to his words and he took another deep breath, focusing on his own heartbeat in an attempt to center himself, before slowly looking up at his boss. 

Nenneke’s expression had softened some. It still was one step away from a frown, but it had softened some, and that nearly cracked Jaskier. Gods forbid the Great Terror of the Trauma ward show him pity. “I would ask that I be allowed to finish my records for the day and be relieved if that’s possible?”

She watched him for a moment, arms crossed over her chest, and a dour look on her face. Then she turned and picked up the phone, punching in an extension. “Please page secondary on-call nurse to this number.”

Jaskier felt the tension in his shoulders drop some. “Thank you, Nenneke.”

“I don’t have you on until Sunday. I expect you to be on time and engaged.”

He nodded his affirmation. She looked him over one last time, nodded back, and moved on, leaving Jaskier to stare at the computer screen in front of him. He rolled his shoulders, focused on the names of his patients, and got swiftly to work, blocking out the rest of the hospital around him. 

~ 

An hour later, Jaskier knotted the laces on his chucks, and power walked back over to the main nurses' desk. The same nurse from earlier sat manning the phones. He cleared his throat as he approached.

“Ah, hey, Zora? I was hoping to find out the status of a Geralt Rivia? If there are any updates?”

The nurse looked up and narrowed her eyes at him, taking in his current lack of scrubs. “Relation?”

“Very close friend. Practically dating? Please, I just want to know how he is. I need to know he’s okay for the moment.” He had his hands on the counter and was gripping it so hard his knuckles had turned white. She noticed.

With a sigh, she motioned towards the waiting room. “We don’t have any official updates as of yet, not for anyone short of next of kin. You can wait over there and I’ll let you know if I can find out the current status.”

“Thank you, thank you so much. I’ll just… go… sit. And worry. Over there. Alright.” His gratitude tapered off into awkward mumbling and he just shuffled himself over towards the waiting room. 

There were only a few other folks waiting around that he could see. Two young families with sick kids, looking stressed out but not fearful. Another gentleman looking bored and annoyed. And finally a very large hunk of a man who very much reminded Jaskier of Geralt, though his hair was a dark brown and there was a very interesting scar down the side of his face. Unlike the other waiting room residents, this man looked distraught beyond belief and had the tattered remains of a tissue clutched tightly in his fist. Another one of those funny feelings spun up in his subconscious and he took a seat one chair over from directly across from the sad stranger.

The man failed to even notice his existence, his eyes fixed on a point somewhere in the middle of the floor between the rows of chairs. Jaskier had the urge to comfort him, so he pulled out his phone to distract himself. It hadn’t been touched since his break ended dramatically and he opened it up to 12 messages from Essi and two missed calls. 

_ ~EssEss~ _

_ What happened?? _

_ Jas? _

_ Are you okay? _

_ [missed call] _

_ Jaskier _

_ You need to call me back _

_ Okay, it’s almost been an hour, seriously. _

_ I’m worried!! _

_ Jas _

_ Jaskier _

_ I’m going to give you another emergency if you DONT ANSWER ME _

_ [missed call] _

_ I’m gonna call the hospital next _

_ Is that what you want? _

The last message was from ten minutes ago. Shit. 

_ Ess. Ess, I am so sorry.  _

_ I’m physically fine. No need to panic or bother the hospital. _

Instead of a response message, his phone began to vibrate with her call.

“Es-”

“YOU NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!”

He winced and held the phone away from his ear for a second. The man in front of him cut his eyes up at him and Jaskier gave him an apologetic look, standing up to move over to an unoccupied corner.

“Must you yell? I’m fine.”

“Yeah, well you left me hanging with the world's worst text message for over an hour so you get what you deserve.” Essi’s voice still held a slightly frantic tone, betraying the worry she’d had over that time.

“Ess, I’m so sorry… I just… I couldn’t focus on anything…” That damn cracking was back. Making him sound like an absolute wreck.

“Jas, honey… what happened?” Her voice sounded concerned and worried now, instead of panicked. That finally did him in and he started crying. Soft shushing noises came from the phone and she started to hum. Just a light, little noise to calm him until he was ready to talk again. He folded into a nearby chair and clutched at his stomach.

“It’s Geralt.”

“What? What did he do this time? I swear to all the gods if he’s been leading you on this whole time, I’ll… !”

“No.. no… oh, gods, he was shot. He’s here… in the hospital. I saw them wheel him in as I was heading back in from my break. He...there… I don’t know what’s happened to him.” He sniffles and blinks rapidly, trying to keep the tears and snot from overwhelming his ability to breathe and talk. 

“I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

“Oh, Ess, you don’t have to do that… I’ll… I can handle myself. I just… this was the first I really allowed myself to focus on it so much. I was just hanging on there until I wasn’t working anymore and then…” He made a vague gesture with his hand that she couldn’t see and sniffed a little harder.

She clucked her tongue over the phone. “No, I’ll be there as soon as I can anyways. You can use a shoulder. My plans tonight involved you regardless, right? Please keep yourself together until I get there, okay?”

Jaskier nodded, then realized yet again he needed to be verbal. “Yes... I’ll be in the waiting room when you get here.”

“See you soon.” And with that, she hung up. Jaskier looked down at the blank screen of his phone and grimaced at his awkward reflection. Ugh, he was a right mess.

He stood up and shuffled back over to where he had been. There was a box of tissues on the table with his name on them. But before he could reach out for the box, another and entered his field of vision with a small handful of tissues for him. He blinked at the hand and then let his gaze travel up to find its owner.

It was the sad stranger.

“Here… uh… I… overheard your conversation.” He held out the bunch of tissues again, hoping Jaskier would take them. With a shaking hand, he did. 

He blew his nose into one of them as he sat down. “Thank you. My… my friend. I saw him hurt and I… well, I’m not handling it well. To be honest. Sorry.”

The stranger shook his head. “I understand completely. Don’t apologize. You… You said Geralt.”

Jaskier nodded and sniffed. “He’s a cop. Detective really…”

“Oh… Oh! You’re… you’re Jaskier.”

His eyes went a little wide. “You…. know who I am?”

The stranger nodded, trying to smile politely but it didn’t detract from the general misery he exuded. “My name is Eskel. I’m Geralt’s partner. At work! He… he talks about you a lot.”

“He talks? About me?”

“Wellll. Yes and no. At first no. But I stole his phone one time and read your messages. Then I pestered him endlessly about it. Then he finally grumbled half a story.” 

Jaskier chuckled slightly. “That sounds more accurate.”

Eskel smiled a bit better now, though his eyes stayed shiny with emotion.

The nurse came over and tapped Jaskier on the shoulder, bending down to whisper to him.

“They just took him to surgery. I don’t have any more than that.”

He nodded at her. “Thank you.”

She simply inclined her head towards them and went back to her post.

Okay. Surgery. Serious. Very serious. But also hopeful that he made it to this point and didn’t bleed out in trauma. 

Jaskier turned his gaze back to Eskel. It was going to be a long night for them both.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The love I have received has really just made me all goopy inside.  
> I want to just hug everyone and keep them, but like. I'm painfully shy. So shy, lol.
> 
> Also, I know next to nothing about medical stuff, I'm just over here having a self-indulgent fun time okay?
> 
> <3

It was sometime around 3AM when the nurse let Jaskier know Geralt was out of surgery and in a bed in the ICU. He was not conscious and wasn’t expected to be for some time. He had lost a lot of blood and the bullet had grazed a lung. There was no telling exactly how his recovery would go as of yet. But the two men had been given at least some good news.

Eskel gave Jaskier an awkward hug and got up to head for home. “I’m going to grab a shower before non-family hours start. Will I see you back here?”

Jaskier nodded. “A shower and probably a nap for me. It’s been a long day. But I’ll be back. Here…” He pulled out his phone and clicked open his contacts. “Can I get your number? Just so you can text me if anything happens before I’m back?”

Eskel nodded and took the offered phone and added himself. “Same goes for you.”

Geralt wasn’t out of the woods yet, but both men could afford to relax at least a little. 

And that’s how the next two weeks went, with one or both of the men finding themselves either by Geralt’s bedside or in the nearby waiting room, or down in the cafeteria staring blankly into a cup of coffee. Jaskier worked but found himself upstairs during his breaks checking on Geralt. He would sneak sandwiches and the good coffee to Eskel whenever he could. 

The two became friends, texting more than just to check on Geralt’s health, but also to check in on each other. They kept each other smiling and laughing when otherwise they wouldn’t. 

Because so far, Geralt remained unwilling to join the world of the living. The doctor’s had theories, as they do, and some kept swinging back to the word Coma. But Jaskier ignored them, knowing he would wake up. He had to. There was so much unsaid between the two of them and he still hadn’t actually confessed to the depths of his own feelings. 

These thoughts swum through his brain one sunny Friday nearly three weeks after the incident as he sat by Geralt’s side. He was holding his hand and humming softly to him, and idly thinking it was high time someone brushed out his lovely hair, when he felt a tremor run through the arm he was holding and sensors started going off around him.

On instinct, he dropped the hand and lept back to the wall, out of the way of the staff that would come in. It didn’t take them long, and soon he was edging into the corner, out of sight and maybe out of mind. He didn’t want to get ejected, he wanted to know what was going on.

But a nurse on her way to page another doctor spotted him. 

“Out.” He said firmly, and Jaskier folded in on himself and slinked from the room. 

He made it down to the waiting area and noticed no Eskel around. He pulled out his phone to text him. 

_ Hey, somethings up. Not sure what. _

_ I got kicked out of the room. _

_ :( _

With a groan, he leaned back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling. This was getting to him too much. He needed to let off some steam. Maybe a good old fashioned horror movie? He could get Essi to come over and watch one with him. She’d hate it, but she’d still sit with him...hidden under the thickest blanket she could find. His phone buzzed a few times, pulling his attention back to the real world. 

_ ~Eskel~ _

_ I’m out on a case. _

_ But let me know if there are any updates. _

_ I’ll let the chief know. _

Jaskier was about to start typing back to him when a nurse walked into the room. This one he recognized. Liam. He was a sweetheart who didn’t question why it was only two random men keeping vigil for the burly cop in his care.

“Jaskier. I’m glad I caught you.”

He took a seat in a chair across from Jaskier. “Liam. What’s up?”

“It was a blood clot. Apparently, it had been lingering and causing issues since the surgery. We were lucky it finally shifted and showed itself. He’s recovering now. Actually, his vitals are looking better than they had before so this ended up better than we had hoped. You can go back in about 30 minutes. Hopefully, we’ll see him regain consciousness soon. The wound itself is healing nicely but it’ll be good once he’s awake to actually get him moving around and using his muscles again.”

Jaskier nodded and smiled softly at the nurse. “Thanks. I’ll let his partner know.”

Liam frowned slightly at that. “I thought you were his partner.”

A blush crept onto his cheeks and he started stammering slightly. “Ah, no. The other man, Eskel, he’s Geralt’s partner on the force. They work together. I’m just his friend. Close friend.”

The nurse simply smiled at him. “Ah, I see. Well, best of luck to you.” And then swiftly left the room.

Luck? I mean… sure, I suppose best of luck for Geralt to wake up, but that was an odd way to put it. He shrugged and pulled his phone back out again.

_ Worry is over.  _

_ It was a clot and he’s doing much better now. _

Instead of pacing for the time left until he could go back in, Jaskier pulled up music to listen to on his phone. A familiar song started playing and he found himself smiling. It was the song he had been singing when he first met Geral all those months ago. Goodness, it was almost a year now. Maybe he would recover enough to be able to have a date. That would be almost poetic. 

Daydreaming took over, and Jaskier barely realized he had waited long enough and could go back in. He shut off his music and walked slowly back towards Geralt’s room. All the daydreaming in the world couldn’t change the stark reality that was entering the quiet hospital room and seeing Geralt laying in his bed, intubated and hooked up to a dozen machines, looking so vulnerable, pale and weak. If only those eyes would open and look at him, to see a smile on his face again. To see any emotion at this point. 

He sat down and scooted the chair as close to the bedside as he could get, carefully taking his hand again. He settled his elbows on the bedside and watched Geralt’s face. His eyes were moving slightly behind closed eyelids. That was a good sign, right? He sighed and rested his forehead against their linked hands.

“I need you to be okay, Geralt. I miss you, so much. I need you to know I have long since forgiven you and I couldn’t imagine how boring my life would be without you. It would lack the poetry of your laugh, or the sonnet that is your smile. These are all terrible metaphors, but you can’t argue with me about them, so there. You get to lay there and listen to my terrible ramblings.”

Jaskier raised his head and realized he had started to cry. Not great passionate sobs, but rather quiet tears escaping without his say so. He sniffed a little and wiped them away.

“But really. I’ll say it to you again when you’re awake, but I’ve fallen in love with you. You and your awkward humor, delicious cooking, and relentless flirting. I just need to talk to you again. Come back, so we can have a real date, okay? I promise not to cook. I’ll take you out and let someone else do all the cooking. We can even splurge and order dessert. How about that?” He swallowed hard and shifted to be slightly closer to the head of the bed. “I can sing to you. Even without a karaoke machine, I think I do very well for myself. Any requests?”

The sun slowly sank as Jaskier sat there and chattered, breaking out into soft singing, only to subside into quieter humming as no response came. He wasn’t expecting it anymore. Geralt would wake up when he was good and ready and that would be it. That had to be it. He was strong and he had to recover. 

A movement so small it was almost imperceptible, startled Jaskier from his reverie. He had been humming and staring out the window and had lost all true track of time or space around him. Another small tremor in the hand he was holding jerked his focus fully back to the bed. 

Geralt’s eyelids fluttered and a pair of soft, confused, amber eyes stared back at him.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a bit to get to a state I was happy enough with, but here it is. 
> 
> Enjoy, dear hearts <3

Geralt had felt the searing, ripping pain of a bullet tearing into him… and then all-consuming pain as he hit the ground and the world spun out of control. 

It was supposed to be a routine interrogation. The person they were visiting wasn’t even initially a person of interest. They simply knew a person who was. He had knocked on the door, Eskel slightly behind him and to the side with his hand on his gun just in case. The door had opened slowly and the man behind it had an already raised gunfire directly at Geralt before he could even register the threat. 

Everything that happened after it was a mosaic of fragmented noises, sounds, pain, and then darkness. He dreamed a few times. It was clearly not the real world, as several of his dreams involved him lounging on a couch with Jaskier while the other man kissed slowly along his neck. These dreams were intense but brief. A glimpse into a life he had yet to share. 

Occasionally he had moments where whatever was happening to him, in reality, bled through. Eskel’s face contorted in pain. Jaskier crying. People he could only assume were doctors staring at him in concern. Then nothing for a while. 

Now the sensations were back again. He heard singing, then humming, then the murmur of words that made it seem like someone was talking to him, but he couldn’t quite make out the words. A bird was trilling nearby. 

The physical sensations started to come back too. An all-consuming ache settled into his bones and he was frozen, unable to move. The humming started up again and he clung to it, focusing on it entirely in case it could suddenly make his useless limbs cooperate again.

Then there was a ringing in his ears, a sharp buzz before his eyes truly blinked open and he slowly focused his blurry vision on the outline of someone sitting near him. 

There was a loud scraping noise and his senses picked up on the warmth around his hand and the feeling of it being jostled as whoever was holding it suddenly jerked forward to look at him closer. His vision was still a little blurry, but he could have sworn the blob in front of him reminded him of Jaskier. 

“Geralt? Oh my god, Geralt! Nurse!!”

Ooh, that didn’t feel good to his ears. That was loud. Though now it even sounded like Jaskier. He blinked a few times experimentally and tried to groan. There was something in his mouth and throat preventing him from making much in the way of noises past minor whimpers. 

“Oh! He’s awake!”

A new voice joined the cacophony and he shut his eyes firmly in discomfort. A whole new slew of slights pains, minor aches, and uncomfortable noises assaulted him from all sides as his quiet little world shifted into a chaotic mess. He was prodded, asked questions, made to respond as best he could, and asked to open his eyes more times than he could count. 

The warm presence he had realized was in fact actually Jaskier, hovered in a corner before behind shooed away. His mood instantly took a nose-dive. Why did all these assholes feel the need to keep pestering him and then send away the one comfort left in this nasty room? He groaned and re-opened his eyes, focusing on the doctor and hoping to all hope that something would get better if he just focused. 

~

Jaskier paced restlessly outside Geralt’s room, too wound up to even head back to the waiting area. He had texted Eskel the moment he was shoved out of the room and he suddenly heard the running footsteps of that same man. 

“Jaskier!”

“Eskel!! Oh, gods, Eskel! He’s awake! Truly!” Jaskier threw himself at the other man, and Eskel just let himself be hugged to within an inch of his life.

“Did he say anything?”

Jaskier shook his head against Eskel’s chest. “He can’t. He was still intubated. But he looked right at me. I saw his eyes again.” There was a minor tremble working its way across his shoulder blades. “I could cry again. More. I dunno, I think I  _ am _ still crying. It’s a lot.”

Eskel carefully shifted him away from his shirt. “No snot on the silk, please. That’s good. Awake is good! Do you know how long they’ll keep that nasty tube in him?”

“Dunno. Depends. Hopefully not long. He’s up and should be breathing fine on his own. I felt him try to squeeze my hand.”

“Alright, I’m going to go bring us a coffee and a sandwich. Go sit and calm down, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Jaskier nodded and Eskel grinned at him before walking off, pulling out his own phone to call someone. Jaskier watched him walk away before trying to peek his head back into the room again. He was awake!! Jaskier didn’t want to waste another moment standing in this dull hallway now that Geralt was finally awake. 

~

“And then! He had the gall to bad-mouth my topping choice! Only boring dullards get frozen yogurt and don’t cover it in at least a third of the toppings available. That’s most of the draw of frozen yogurt!” 

Jaskier was sitting in the chair next to Geralt’s bed with his shoeless feet propped up on it, gesturing as he talked and helping himself to the uneaten half of Geralt’s sandwich. Geralt himself is propped up against the raised back of his bed, pillows tucked behind him, smiling softly as he watched Jaskier. “I’m glad you’re getting along with Eskel.” He murmurs, voice still a little hoarse from disuse and having a tube shoved down it.

Jaskier tilts his head to the side as his eyes meet Geralt’s. “Well, of course. It only makes sense that your partner and your very best friend should also get along. He’s very nice. So talkative. Plus, he only mocks my food choices every  _ once  _ in a while.”

“French fries don’t go in smoothies, Jaskier. That’s a universal fact.”

“Only because you’re woefully uninteresting, Geralt, and don’t like to have fun.” He waved a chewed on half-sandwich in his direction in emphasis.

Geralt fake-glowered at him. “If I am so uninteresting, and you’re my ‘best friend’, what does that say about you?”

Jaskier gaped at him for a moment before bursting into giggles. “Good one. You’re getting back to your usual amount of sass and sarcasm faster than I thought. You’ve been too soft on me lately. It had me worried your memories did not survive.”

“My memories are fine, Jask. I’ll prove it to you.” He leaned forward slightly and set his hand on the edge of the bed, closer to where Jaskier was lounging. “Doctors have cleared me for leaving tomorrow afternoon. We can get takeout from that Ethiopian place, and you can help me settle back into my apartment. If you would like?”

Jaskier dropped his feet from the bed and sat up straight. “Yes! I’m more than happy to help you out!” He grinned and shifted the chair closer to the head of the bed. “Did you want me to text Eskel? Let him know when to meet us there?”

Geralt shifted a little and tugged the blankets more firmly about him. He felt altogether out of place and exposed in the little the hospital had given him. And he didn’t much enjoy having to try and express his emotions while struggling with that feeling. A sigh escaped his lips and he reached his hand out. Here goes nothing.

Jaskier took it without a thought. Suddenly they were holding hands which was… new territory for sure. Especially since Geralt had only been conscious for a few days and Jaskier had exactly zero moments where he wanted to have that particular conversation while Geralt was literally unable to get away. So he sat and kind of stared at their hands linked together, letting Geralt lace their fingers together more comfortably. 

“Yes and no. I do want Eskel to help, and to know I’m heading home soon… But I was sort of hoping you would also want to spend some time with just me.” Geralt’s head was slightly tilted down, a small frown on his features as he also stared at their hands. 

Jaskier looked up a little to try and catch his eye. No such luck. Guess it was awkward confessions time after all. 

“Geralt… I would be more than happy to. Spending time with you in a place that isn’t a claustrophobic hospital room would just send me right over the moon. I… I sat here a lot. While you were under. Just talking to you. Sometimes singing.” He started.

“I know… I heard you.”

Jaskier paled some and stuttered a bit. “You… what? You heard? You heard me? Talking? You heard my words? And all the… singing?” The last word came out croaked and an octave higher than normal. 

Geralt rocked his head from side to side. “Sort of. I recognized your voice. I could tell when you were just talking and when you were singing. But no, I didn’t hear the actual words. Your bedside confessions are safe. For now.” He tried to suppress a grin at his last words but was having a hard time while watching Jaskier’s face run through the full gamut of embarrassing emotions and colors. Best to cut the poor man some slack. “You kept me going, I want to say. I dreamt some. And you were almost always in those dreams in some way. You’re my harbor, Jask. You guided me back.” He swallowed hard. His brush with death had rattled some sense loose and he just… couldn’t go back to the ways things were. He had words, damnit, and he was going to use them. “You can’t even begin to know how thankful I was that you were here when I woke up and I wasn’t alone.”

Jaskier had started silently crying during his speech, the knuckles of one hand pressed to his mouth, working hard not to interrupt him. Geralt squeezed the hand he was holding and Jaskier surged forward to wrap his arms around his neck. 

“You big lummox. How dare you be so poetic all of a sudden. You’ve stolen all my thunder. I was going to ask you on a real date and be all suave and irresistible, and here you are just… verbally sprinting off with the last of my willpower.” He leaned back just enough to press a kiss to his cheek.

Geralt took a risk. 

He slid his other hand up to Jaskier’s shoulder and turned his head, seeking a better kiss than just a chaste one to the cheek. Jaskier made a little ‘ooh’ noise as the hand on his shoulder moved to his chin instead and soft lips met his. It had been so long. A year. But the warm swirling feeling that wrapped around his spine and curled across his belly firmly brought back exactly why he could never shake Geralt. 

He shifted his hips to sit more comfortably on the bed, thigh pressed against his lover’s, and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. It was everything he had hoped it would be, despite the less than romantic setting. They broke apart only when the surrounding machines made tiny beeps in worry of a rising heart rate. Jaskier chuckled and set his forehead against Geralt’s. 

“I suppose we will have to keep it chaste until we get you home.”

Geralt chuckled and rubbed the backs of his knuckles against Jaskier’s cheek. “The doctor warned against strenuous activity for a week or so as I gain my strength back.”

“Well..” He began dramatically, “I suppose I shall simply have to woo you the old fashioned way. I shall place but chaste kisses against your skin, and serenade you with melodies about your eyes. I shall buy you a bouquet of flowers signifying my intent and -”

Geralt cut him off with a smiling kiss. 

“You’re ridiculous. Woo me?”

“Well of course!” Jaskier sat back and gestured broadly at himself. “I am a professional romantic, I will have you know. And now that you’ve used up every sappy word in your body, I shall have to carry us from here.”

“I’ve used up all my sappy words?”

Jaskier narrowed his eyes at the other man. “Don’t you try to out romance me, young man.” He wagged a finger at him playfully.

Geralt caught the finger and used it to pull Jaskier closer, holding hands again. He raised that hand to his lips and kissed it while his eyes stayed firmly on the blue pair. Jaskier blushed and looked close to babbling off into another nervous tangent.

Well, now was as good a time as any.

“Jaskier?”

“Mm?”

“I want more than just a little more time together. I want more than you just helping me get back to my apartment. I’d love to teach you how to cook. I want real dates, and lazy mornings. I wasted so much time and took the wrong kind of risks. So now, Jaskier, I want you to be my boyfriend. Would you want that as well?”

The other man just sat there with his mouth open for a while, looking a mix of shocked and overwhelmed. 

“I… I… I had been working so hard on a plan. To ask you out. I never…” He sniffled and blinked his eyes a few times before smiling brightly back. “I want that too. Very much. My heart nearly stopped when I saw you brought in here. I never want to feel like that again.” He leaned over slightly and kissed him again. “Yes, Geralt. I’ll be your boyfriend.”

Geralt pulled him into a hug and nestled his face into Jaskier’s shoulder. “Good.”

  
  


When Geralt was finally released the next day, they left hand in hand, a grumbling Eskel bringing up the rear holding Geralt’s things and various well-wisher gifts that he had accumulated. Jaskier had offered to carry some of it, but Geralt was adamant that he needed Jaskier’s hands free to help him to the car, playing just a little too hard on the invalid card. Eskel just glowered at them.

Before long, they were all comfy back at Geralt’s apartment, tucked up on the couch and cuddling while Eskel sprawled in the large armchair next to them. It felt right, to have Jaskier and Eskel, surprising friends, here in his home. He realized this was something he didn’t want to lose. His fingers threaded through Jaskier’s and he leaned over to kiss him on the forehead.

“Nice to see you two finally all official. Geralt sure couldn’t shut up about you, and he always had this stupid grin on his face whenever you texted him.”

Jaskier giggled while Geralt glowered. 

“Gods, you two are sickening. I love it.”

Jaskier couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as Geralt grumped at Eskel, and the other just teased it away. He snuggled a little closer.

Official. After all this time. It had been such a ride, and it certainly hadn’t been easy. It had been painful, and terrifying...

And completely worth the risk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read and commented and warmed my sad little heart.  
> I may write an epilogue for this, may not.  
> I have more ideas bouncing in my head.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed reading! <3
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr as wren_bug if you wanna yell at me lol.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> I promise I actually have more of this written already, but I felt like pushing this bit out into the world would:  
> A) Make me stop editing it instead of writing more of the actual story  
> B) Give me an incentive to finish writing the story cause it's... out there and deserves to be finished, lol.
> 
> Virtual kisses and hugs to everyone in these trying times.  
> Stay Home. Wash your hands. Read Geraskier nonsense.


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